Classic investments and modern alternatives

Dear reader

Vaud-based fabless semiconductor company Kandou has raised USD 72 million in the first closing of its Series A round. The aim is to raise USD 100 million by the end of the year. Kandou’s technology accelerates data transfer and its latest product, called Regli, is particularly suitable for use in data centres. The financing round is designed to drive global expansion and support the market launch of Regli.

We also reported on six other investments this week. Ascento Robotics secured CHF 3.8 million to accelerate market development for its autonomous security patrolling robots. Another CHF 3.8 million went to Multiwave Technologies, which will use the money to obtain approval for the world’s lightest portable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device.

The second largest financial injection this week was received by Swissto12; the microtechnology and space company secured CHF 25 million. However, it is not an investment but a working capital facility from UBS Switzerland, underwritten by SERV – the Swiss government’s export risk insurance. 

The news from Swissto12 shows two things. First, due to the current market situation, growth companies are looking for other options to the classic venture investment. Second, it proves that these options exist and, as in the case of Swissto12, can bring in significant sums of money.

Crowd investing has become established as an alternative route in Switzerland over the last two years. Swisspeers, Tera Technologies and SmartPurse have recently secured money in this way, and another player will soon enter the market: Arcton’s platform combines crowd investing with a marketplace for trading the tokenised shares. The start-up has now completed a pre-seed round.

Swiss companies are also taking advantage of the current situation to make acquisitions. CelsiusPro has bought in the UK and noii, known for its video dating platform, has taken over a Los Angeles start-up. The assets include an AI-based recommendation algorithm, and in addition the start-up’s users will form the basis for noii to expand into the US.

A Female Founders event will take place in Bern next Wednesday, the first of a series of events with the aim of increasing the proportion of female founders. This will be followed on Thursday by a Female Founders Dinner in Zurich, organised by the Swiss Startup Association.

The following week Digital Health Day will take place in Zurich. I would also like to point out the deadline for the ZKB Pionierpreis Technopark on 25 September and for Innosuisse Scale-up Coaching on 29 September. Speaking of Innosuisse: In this week’s article about start-ups that ave been awarded the Innosuisse Certificate we present four ICT companies.

Have a good weekend.
Stefan Kyora

Editor in Chief, Startupticker.ch